INSTAGRAM

POV

Contents Instagram Overview How Instagram Works Instagram Strategy for Brands Brands on Instagram How Brands are Engaging on Instagram

Instagram Contest Examples Leveraging Instagram API Measurement and Analytics Tool for Instagram Appendix

What Is Instagram Instagram is a free photo-sharing program

and social network that was launched in October 2010

Users can upload or take photos, apply a digital filter to it

Users can then share it with other Instagram users they are connected to on the social network as well as on other social networking services (Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr)

Instagram User Growth Instagram has grown to 100MM users in the

past year

Photo-Sharing Apps Among Fastest Growing App Categories This growth is reflective of the popularity of

photo sharing apps among social media users

Instagram’s Daily Active Users Eclipses That Of Pinterest’s

Instagram has 11MM Daily Active Users

A number significantly higher than Pinterest’s Daily Active Users

Who Is Using Instagram Most Instagram users are between the ages

18-29 but Gen Xers closely follow

Instagram Is About Visual Content Content Discovery

Users can find new content by searching for users and hashtags

Content Creation Instagram’s unique filters allow users to create

interesting content Content Curation

Users can like, share via social networks and comment on photos by other users

How Does Instagram Work

Once a user has installed the app, he create a profile and include a bio and a website URL

Instagram allows users to find friends from other social network to follow

Photos posted by a user appear in their followers’ streams

Users can also search by username or hashtag in the Explore tab

Photos that appear in a user’s stream or photos from the Explore tab can be shared on Twitter

Instagram Features Instagram Filters Explore Tab Hashtags Photo Map

Filters Instagram has

seventeen filters users can choose from to create unique photos

Filters remain the single most interesting feature that engage users

Explore This tab features the most

popular photos on Instagram Popularity is based on the

number of likes and comments

Users can also search for a specific user by the username or for hashtags

Brands must strive to post unique photos that are likely to be featured on the Explore tab

Brands must create easily searchable usernames

Hashtags Brands can leverage

hahstags to enable users to discover and share photos

Hashtags can also serve to drive awareness of the brand E.g. Nike adapted the

tagline Make It Count as a hashtag #counts

Also, when users share the photo on Twitter with the hashtag it helps build awareness on that channel

Track Popular Hashtags To Participate In Conversations Users and brands alike can track popular

hashtags by using services such as Web.stagram.com

Web.stragram.com tracks trending/hot topics by hashtags Using these hashtags help get in front of users

who maybe searching for content Brands can also use these hashtags to participate

in conversations resonating with users

Photo Map Photo Map feature allows

brands and users to geo-tag their photos with locations

Brands can use this feature to add location to the photos and give followers a sense of intimacy For example, sharing

behind-the-scenes photos of a brand’s retail or manufacturing location gives consumers a front row access

Instagram Web Profiles Instagram recently

rolled out web profiles Users' web profiles

resemble Facebook's Timeline template with a selection of recent images tiled above the profile photo

Viewers can follow users, comment and like images as they do on the mobile app

Is Instagram Right For Brands Search for photos that maybe tagged with the

brand name If users are already sharing content with the brand

name it could signal an opportunity If competitors are using the platform it could mean

a missed opportunity if the brand is not there

Consider resources required to create visuals Instagram is about storytelling, and compelling

photos are integral Instagram also requires brands post regularly

throughout the day and engaging with followers and users

Major Brands Are Quickly Adopting The Platform 40% of top 100 interbrands have a presence

on Instagram

Top 10 Brands By Follower CountBrands Followers

MTV 1,020,932

Starbucks 912,959

Burberry 576,368

Nike 608,244

Gucci 241,601

General Electric 136,837

Audi 187,753

Tiffany & Co 238,269

Hermes 86,730

McDonalds 40,000

Some Brands That Are Doing It Right Starbucks –

for its seasonally relevant content that centers around the product but does not feel forced

Burberry – for its stunning images of London, runway, red

carpet celebrities and behind-the-scenes of shows and photo shoots

Sharpie – for its sense of humor and images of drawings

using Sharpie pens

Starbucks Hashtags used: #itsfallwhen, #StarbucksRefreshers,

#Frappuccino Product shots promoting seasonal themes,

sponsorship, events and offers

Burberry Hashtag Burberry, BurberryWeather, LFW Images of city of London, Fashion shows, Cultural

Events (e.g. Live Bands)

Sharpie Leverages popular hashtags (#twinning, #nobeardday)

and branded hashtags (#Sharpie) to create funny captions to accompany Instagram photos of the custom images

Posts everyday, except on weekends

Instagram Strategy For Brands

HOW BRANDS ARE ENGAGING ON INSTAGRAM

Instagram Contests General Electric created an Instagram contest

to identify an Instagramer who would photograph the GE facilities

Sony Xperia invited consumers to create images based on weekly themes decided by handpicked influencers

Ford Fiesta leveraged Instagram contest to drive awareness on the different car features

GENERAL ELECTRIC INSTAGRAPHER CONTEST

General Electric Instagrapher Contest GE hosted a contest to find an official

Instagrapher who would Instagram GE’s aviation facility in Wales

GE wanted to showcase its work in the different industries

Leveraging the Instagram community to create photos that related to the four core areas helped GE make its B2B products more consumer facing

How It Works To enter users had to upload Instagram photos that

related to one of the following four categories Moving, Curing, Powering, Building

Photos had to be hashtagged #GEInspiredMe Submitted photos were also featured on a Facebook

tab Fans could then vote for their favorite photos A team of judges selected a finalist who was flown to

Wales to Instagram the aviation facility

Results

SONY XPERIA PHOTO JAM

Sony Experia Photo Jam Overview Inspired by celebrities, the company wants to see what

kind of creativity users can unleash through their Instagram photos

Participants can win Sony’s newest Xperia Ion smartphone or a trip to see Maroon 5 live in concert

Sony has four different challenges, based on four celebrities The Glamourai, also known as Kelly Framel, a fashion

stylist Professional photographer Theron Humphrey Olympic gold medal softball pitcher Jennie Finch, and American Indie rockers Freelance Whales

Contest duration: 4 weeks

How It Works

Step 1: User must LIKE in order to register

and/or vote

Step 2: User must Register to be eligible

for winning

Step 2: Registration Form

1

2

How It Works (cont’d)

Driving Participation through Facebook

posts

Select photos are featured in the gallery

to let users vote

Individual photos can also be shared on

different social networks

Results

FORD FIESTAGRAM

Ford Fiestagram

Why Instagram Mobile photography is on the rise, and the

people in Ford’s target demographic — trendsetting fashion, style and tech mavens — are big users of Instagram

Instagram was the perfect platform to carry out a multinational campaign in which people across Europe, speaking a variety of languages, could participate

Ford Fiestagram | How It Works The Fiestagram campaign was hosted

on the global Ford Fiesta Facebook Page

A mobile-optimized HTML tab displayed everything about the campaign

Each week, for the six weeks the contest lasted, Ford announced a new hashtag associated with one of the Fiesta’s high-tech features, such as #entry, #music and #hidden

Users could then submit photos on Instagram, tagged with “#Fiestagram” and that week’s particular hashtag

The best photos were selected to be featured in real-life galleries and digital billboards

And Ford gave weekly prizes to those submitting particularly striking images

The final prize was a Ford Fiesta

Results More than 16,000 photos were submitted to the

Fiestagram contest During the six-week campaign, Ford acquired

more than 120,000 new Facebook fans across Europe

Ford saw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the campaign hub on Facebook each week Many with particularly high dwell times, indicating that

they were interested in browsing through the galleries of submissions

Importantly, Ford successfully attracted the attention of its target demographic: fashion, style and technology trendsetters

LEVERAGING INSTAGRAM API

Leveraging Instagram API Brands can also create unique user

experiences on their site with Instagram E.g. Free People uses hashtagged Instagram

photos by its customers on its site Bergdorf Goodman created a microsite that

displayed hashtagged images of shoes on the map of New York City

Free People

Free People (cont’d)At first, the product page looks pretty typical—pretty model wearing jeans

But when consumers scroll down, they can see how real people have worn and accessorized the items

Bergdorf and Goodman Bergdorf and Goodman invited customers to capture

their shoe obsession To have their photos appear on the map of NYC on

B&G’s microsite, customers had to hashtag the photos #BGShoes

In addition to photos appearing on the map, there was a chance they would be featured on the walls of the store

INSTAGRAM MEASURING TOOLS

Measurement And AnalyticsSimply

MeasuredNitrogr.am Statigram Web.stagram

Monitor brand account ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Track most used keywords in comments of the brand’s account

✔ ✖ ✖ ✖

Track popular filter of photos published from brand’s account

✔✖

✔ ✖

Track most popular hashtag used on brand’s photos ✔ ✖ ✔ ✖

Track top geo-locations ✔

Identify Time of day for most engagement✔ ✖ ✔ ✖

Identify which social platform gets most engagement when Instagram photos are shared

✔✖ ✖

✖

Influencer identification among brand followers ✔ ✔ ✔ ✖

Number of likes, comments received ✔ ✔ ✔

(comments not aggregated)

✖

(manual counting)

Follower/Following Count ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Hosting photo galleries on site, blog and Facebook ✖ ✔ ✔✔

(only for blog)

Hosting Instagram contests ✖ ✔ ✔ ✖

Moderation of photos before posting to gallery ✖ ✔ ✔ ✖

Simply Measured

Nitrogr.am Statigram Web.stagram

Monitor competitors and hashtags✖ ✔ ✔ ✔

Track likes and comments on competitors photos✖ ✔ ✖ ✖

Identify popular filters used on Instagram on a given day

✖ ✖ ✖ ✔

Identify popular hashtags on Instagram on any given day

✖ ✖ ✖ ✔

Private Message follower/user ✖ ✖ ✔ ✖

Re-posting Instagram photos on other social networks

✖ ✖ ✔ ✔

Measurement And Analytics (cont’d)

APPENDIX

Simply Measured SimplyMeasured – allows brands to monitor their

Instagram activity Keyword analysis – what keywords consumers tend to

use the most in their comments Filters used: filters that get the most engagement Time of day: time when posts receive higher

engagement Cross-platform: which social platform has more

engaging audience Influencers: identifies key commenters on photos

No moderation capability or ability to track competitors or other usernames and hashtags

Nitrogr.am Nitrogr.am measures brand and competitors’

Instagram account Nitrogr.am allows brands to track users and

hashtags Reports on metrics such as Likes and

Comments, Reach (only for hahstags) and Photos

Identifies influencers based on followers, likes and comments

Brands can create photo galleries based on hashtags that can be featured on website, Facebook or blog Provides moderation tool to only allow approved

photos to be published on brand properties

Statigram Statigram also allows brands to monitor competitors

and hashtags But only provides basic information such as total photos,

followers and following count Images also are only sorted by recency of post and cannot

be changed While it is limited in tracking competitors, Statigram

provides other insights related to brand account Statigram also provides a platform to host contests,

moderate images, create photo galleries on the site and Facebook page

Statigram also allows brands to private message users who are also on Statigram

Statigram (cont’d) Engagement Metrics

Likes and comments received, by month or by week

Most liked photo, most recently engaged follower Hashtag cloud Time of Day Filter usage

Awareness Metrics Follower growth: monthly and overall Daily follower gain and loss and who are the new

and lost followers Follower/Following ratio

Web.stagram Web.stagram also allows brands to monitor

competitors and hashtags Brands can also search for the most popular

hashtags to make images more relevant to followers

Web.stagram also identifies popular filters based on the most popular photos of the day

Brands can also identify influencers to engage with

Web.stagram (cont’d) Like Statigram, Web.stagram has limited

ability to provide deep insights on competitors Brands can create photo galleries only for

blogs; there is no moderation tool or the ability to host contests

Web.stagram also allows brands to private message other users also using the tool

Users can also repost photos from Web.stagram to other social sites while retaining the original Instagramer’s name

References http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2196727/photographs-social-medias-hot-

content-marketing-asset http://blog.flurry.com/bid/84831/Mobile-App-Growth-Led-by-Video-Sharing-

YouTube-in-the-Crosshairs http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-instagram-zuckerberg-growth-9-

2012 http://www.slideshare.net/likeable/instagram-for-brands-12214052 http://www.geekwire.com/2012/advanced-guide-instagram-build-brand/ http://www.22squared.com/blogs/rebecca-debono/instagram-is-it-right-for-

your-brand/ http://mashable.com/2012/08/08/40-of-top-brands-instagram/ http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/11/22/want-to-take-instagram-

photos-for-a-living-win-this-ge-competition-and-you-can/ http://allfacebook.com/sony-xperia-instagram-contest_b99873 http://mashable.com/2012/02/02/ford-fiesta-instagram/ http://www.businessinsider.com/free-people-and-urban-outfitters-instagram-

advertising-2012-7?op=1 http://blog.bergdorfgoodman.com/womens-style/shoes-about-town-bgshoes